Heterostructural Interface in Fe3C-TiN Quantum Dots Boosts Oxygen Reduction Reaction for Al-Air Batteries

Kaiqi Li; Chuqing Wang; Huanxin Li; Yongliang Wen; Fei Wang; Qingyue Xue; Zhongyuan Huang; Chaopeng Fu

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c10192

Heterostructural Interface in Fe₃C-TiN Quantum Dots Boosts Oxygen Reduction Reaction for Al-Air Batteries

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Oct 13;13(40):47440-47448. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c10192. Epub 2021 Sep 30.

Authors

Kaiqi Li¹, Chuqing Wang², Huanxin Li², Yongliang Wen², Fei Wang¹, Qingyue Xue¹, Zhongyuan Huang², Chaopeng Fu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China.

PMID: 34591442
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c10192

Abstract

Oxygen reduction electrocatalysts play important roles in metal-air batteries. Herein, Fe₃C-TiN heterostructural quantum dots loaded on carbon nanotubes (FCTN@CNTs) are prepared as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) through a one-pot pyrolysis. The Fe₃C-TiN quantum dots with a diameter of 2-5 nm show the unique characteristic of heterostructural interface. The as-prepared FCTN@CNTs display Pt/C comparable ORR performance (E_onset 1.06 and E_1/2 0.95 V) in alkaline medium, which is ascribed to the heterostructural interface between TiN and Fe₃C. Furthermore, the Al-air batteries with the FCTN@CNT catalyst display superior discharge performance, demonstrating good feasibility for practical application. This work provides an effective new method to synthesize affordable and efficient oxygen reduction reaction catalysts.

Keywords: Al−air batteries; electrocatalysis; heterostructural quantum dots; interface; oxygen reduction reaction.